Tropicaaliyah

A little late with this one, but at POLYRHYTHMIQUES we always keep our clocks set to Island Time, and we definitely don't wear wristwatches. Brooklyn's DJ Still Life hooked up a serious set of Aaliyah remixes last week on the 9th anniversary of her death. Still Life's cumbia treatment of "Try Again" is the pick here, and kudos go out to anyone willing to rethink three of Timbaland's masterful turn-of-the-century productions. All four tracks available free here.

Muqabla Hum Se Na Karo

Amazing dance off complete with costume and style changes, from 1969's Prince, with vocals by Bollywood legends Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, and Asha Bhosle.

RIP Sugar Minott

I remember grabbing this album from Hoodlum's in Tempe, AZ, having learned about it from an Easy Star records e-mail (they used to spam me with info on what sounded like the dopest parties in NYC). Never got to see Sugar live, but I always wondered if Goodie Mob knew they shared a track title.

REMOTE CONTROL

Back in April of ought-eight, DJ Godtrilla 3K (ATL/LA) cued up the turntables in the deep forested West Sussex Studio for a little twitterpatin'. REMOTE CONTROL is a smooth succession of Caribbean and African sides, along with a little narration from the one-and-only Charlton Heston. Uplift your consciousness as you step into spring. Download link here.

Polyrhythmiques Upgrade

Dookie Platters is assuming his government name and writing for Atlanta newspaper Crib Notes blog. Check out the first post on Yung Joc 's Atlanta-to-Africa connections. Crib Notes is focused on Atlanta's local musical happenings, so we'll still be posting that international goodness here at Polyrhythmiques on our normal erratic basis.

Other Lands

Brasil-based producer, deejay, and remixer Maga Bo recently dropped another 40-minute mix of impossibly unclassifiable heat. Vocalists from all corners attack the mic over a stew of diverse drum patterns, dub-hall basslines, and electronic flourishes. Surprisingly pleasing stuttering cellphone speaker buzz shows up in track three for that special touch of genius. Check here for the tracklist, here for Maga Bo's slightly more drum-n-bass-y Os Cacos mix, and look down for his outstanding collaboration "Fire" with Senegalese emcee Xuman (from 2008's Archipelagoes on Soot Records).

Blues Run the Game

(special shout out to my man John R. aka DJ Gnosis over at Black Century for this posting's title.)

As infrequently as this blog is updated, rest assured it is even more infrequently read. Surprisingly, that didn't stop the good folks at World Circuit Records (of Buena Vista Social Club fame) from stopping by to drop off a copy of their latest release from two musical legends. 'Kala Djula' is an instrumental number from Malian recording artists Ali and Toumani (not to be confused with this duo), better known as Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté. The tune displays the virtuosity of these two incredibly diverse African musicians, with Touré on guitar, and Diabaté on the countrymen's native stringed gourd, the kora. The result is a beautiful balance of dancing melodies, more reminiscent of an 19th-century Italian drawing room than a 21st-century "digital single." The album Ali & Toumani is available on itunes, amazon, etc. and "Kala Djula' is streaming on World Circuit here.
I first heard Ali Farka Touré on 1994's Talking Timbuktu with perennial "world musician" (and guitar legend in his own right) Ry Cooder. Although Touré passed in 2006, he is still recognized by many as one of the greatest guitar players to walk the planet. The link between West African music and the American blues is all but invisible when Touré picked up his instrument. I'll let him explain it in his own words...